


A Social Worker Always Stays Calm (and Other Slaski Family Traits)

by desert_neon (sproutgirl)



Series: Looking In From the Outside [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Clint Barton/Phil Coulson (implied) - Freeform, F/M, Friendship, Gen, POV Outsider, Sequel, how to be friends with an Avenger and keep it a secret, mentions of child abuse, mentions of domestic violence, secret friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-14
Updated: 2015-09-14
Packaged: 2018-04-20 16:43:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4794785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sproutgirl/pseuds/desert_neon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason meets the last of Kelly's New York friends, along with a couple of that friend's friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Social Worker Always Stays Calm (and Other Slaski Family Traits)

**Author's Note:**

> **Trigger Warning:** Child abuse and domestic violence are both mentioned. Neither is graphic, just a small description of one of Jason's cases as a social worker as well as general description of his job.
> 
> Basically this story takes place in a canon-divergent world, after the start of Agents of SHIELD, but before Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor are all known by the public, including their identities. People know Hulk, but not Bruce Banner. Hawkeye and Black Widow are famous, but no one knows their real names. Phil has been returned to his friends in NYC, but he still works with the Bus Team. Hydra lurks in the background, but no one knows it yet.
> 
> I have found that Kelly and Jason have both wormed their way into my heart. I hope a few of you enjoy them as much as I do.

“Jason, there’s someone here for you.”

Jason looked away from his screen. “Good. I could use a break from this one.”

Cheryl glanced at the images he’d been studying and winced. They were horrific, he knew. Thankfully, the kids had been removed months ago, and had lucked out in their placement, adjusting well to their new home and loving foster family. Still, the case had to be reviewed for the upcoming trial, and while time made it more distant, it didn’t make it easier. Not yet, anyway.

“I’m not sure this one will be much better,” Cheryl admitted. “No kids — at least not with her — but she’s got fresh bruises and is obviously injured. Someone’s been knocking her around.”

Jason turned his screen off and stood, stretching a little. “She give a name?”

“No. Asked for you though. Maybe an old case?”

“Maybe.” He stepped out of his cubicle and looked towards the waiting area, which seemed to be filled with small kids and their parents, and a few senior citizens. He looked back to Cheryl.

“She seemed skittish. Dana took her to B.”

“Thanks.” Jason made his way through the maze of cubicles and open desks, to the smaller of their two conference rooms not decked out for kids, then knocked on the door and waited. Most people expected him to enter immediately after, like a doctor, but he preferred to extend the courtesy as a show of respect for boundaries. Some people needed him to knock again before granting him entrance, others would call a hesitant “Yes?” or, “Come in.”

What Jason got this time was a quiet but firm, “Mr. Slaski?” as if no other would be accepted. The voice, low in pitch and slightly raspy, was not familiar to him, but that didn’t really mean anything.

“Yes,” he assured her, and waited again.

“Come in.”

In he went, softly, quietly, with his spine straight but his shoulders rounded, his expression open and nonjudgmental. She was standing in the far corner, back to the wall, one arm held awkwardly against her torso. Her hood was up and her sunglasses were on, but they did nothing to hide the massive bruise forming along her jaw, or the shiner peeking out from the large, fashionable frames. She seemed small there, in the corner, seeking protection.

He didn’t know her.

“Would you prefer the door open or closed?” he asked, careful with his tone.

“Closed.”

Jason did as he was told, shutting the door firmly but not forcefully, listening for the click of the latch. When he turned back, she had stepped forward, away from the wall, and Jason had to do a quick recalculation. She no longer appeared fragile and scared — something in the way she held herself had shifted — and she was clearly assessing him, doing her own calculations. He held still, and calmly held his arms at his sides, palms facing her in a small acknowledgment of her need to figure him out.

Her lips twitched. “I appreciate the reassuring act, but it’s not necessary. To be honest, I prefer strength and competency.”

“They aren’t mutually exclusive,” Jason argued lightly, but he straightened his shoulders with a smile and sat. “Please sit, Miss . . . ?”

“Ravenna,” she supplied with another flash of amusement. She didn’t sit down, though she did move closer, the hand on her injured side wrapping over the top of the chair in front of her. “But you may call me Natalie.”

“Thank you, Natalie. And for the record, I prefer Jason over Mr. Slaski. Now. How can we help you?”

“It isn’t the aid of your agency I need,” she said, her good hand reaching up to remove her sunglasses. “It’s just you I’m looking for.”

Jason frowned, and hoped it came across as confusion over her odd phrasing and not as his reaction to the puffy, mottled skin over and around one eye. “I’m sorry, I don’t understa—”

She pushed her hood back, releasing brilliant red hair. Familiar red hair.

“—Oh.”

She smiled again, more fully this time, clearly amused. “Yes. Oh.”

“What can I do?”

That seemed to meet her approval. “My partner and I just need somewhere to lie low while we wait for extraction. We were not tailed, and no one knows of our connection to you. I don’t anticipate any danger.”

Jason stood, looking her over. “Do you need medical attention?”

That was met with less approval, judging by the flint in her eyes. “No.”

He was pretty sure that wasn’t the whole story, but he wasn’t about to argue with the most dangerous woman on the planet. “Lead the way.”

She nodded, tucked her hair back under her hood and slid the sunglasses into place, and made her way to his side, suddenly every inch the frightened, nervous abuse victim seeking help. Taking his cue, Jason adjusted his own posture and attitude, keeping close as they stepped out of the room, offering support and strength without being overbearing. 

“Dana, I’ll be out the rest of the afternoon,” he said as they passed the reception desk. It was nearly three, after all, and if he were really helping someone to the hospital or through filing a police report, he’d never make it back before five.

He received acknowledgment from Dana, and together he and . . . Natalie? Widow? Black Widow? . . . left the building, turning as one towards the employee parking area. Clearly she knew where she was going, and Jason found himself unsurprised to see someone waiting for them by Jason’s own car.

“I half-expected Clint,” he admitted in a mutter as they approached the man who, while not Clint and not dressed in the famous uniform, was still perfectly recognizable as soon as he lifted his head to be seen under the bill of his baseball cap.

“Clint’s off helping Agent Coulson’s team with something,” the man said when — Natalie, he was just going to go with Natalie, it was slightly less surreal — when Natalie said nothing. Jason felt slightly caught, not having expected to be heard, but, super soldier, super hearing, he reasoned. “Thank you for your help, Mr. Slaski,” the man continued, offering his hand. “Steve Rogers.”

“Yeah.” Eventually Jason gathered himself enough to shake the captain’s hand and say, “Jason, please, Captain Rogers. And you’re welcome. Anything I can do.” Because, even though part of him worried that helping Avengers in distress could lead to trouble, he wasn’t going to _not_ help. Besides, Clint would be sad if anything happened to his platonic soulmate sister partner person, and then Kelly would be sad, and Jason didn’t like it when Kelly was sad.

“Then it’s Steve. And you won’t have to do much. Just let us crash on your couch and use your first aid kit.”

“As sweet as this is, boys,” Natalie said, already opening the back door of the car despite the fact that Jason hadn’t unlocked it yet, “get in the car.”

“Is the first aid kit going to be enough?” Jason asked after he’d taken the driver’s seat and watched in the rearview mirror as she’d carefully settled.

“Nat?” Steve asked, looking back at her.

“I’ve seen Kelly’s kit,” she said. “It’ll be enough.”

“Right.” Jason backed the car out smoothly, so as not to jar her. Once they were on the road, he ventured, “So I guess I shouldn’t ask what you guys are doing in the Portland area?”

There was a beat of silence, and then Captain America — _Steve_ — spoke up. “Probably better if you don’t.”

Jason nodded and glanced again into the rearview. He didn’t see anyone deliberately following them, but, then again, how would he know?

“No one’s coming,” Natalie said, her voice pitched to be firm and reassuring. “As bad as we look, we were the winners. They couldn’t have followed us.”

“Right,” Jason said again, his eyes focusing on her in the mirror. “Are you sure you’re all right?” She was sitting oddly, stiff and angled, twisted on the seat.

She rolled her eyes. “I’m fine. Just trying not to get blood on the upholstery. Captain Boy Scout would never forgive me.”

“We’ll pay to clean it,” Steve said before Jason even had a chance to react. He also twisted himself around and between the seats, his urgency belying his tone, and reached for her. Jason’s hands tightened on the wheel at the sudden intrusion in his space, and he concentrated on the road, so he couldn’t see what caused Steve’s quiet, “Jesus, Nat,” but he knew it wasn’t good.

“It’s fine, Steve.”

“It is not _fine_.”

“Okay, no, it’s not. But what are we going to do about it? The hospital’s out. You’ll just have to sew it up as best you can.”

“My sister,” Jason said, surprising even himself.

“What?” Steve asked, their shoulders brushing as he tried to contort himself even further to look at Jason.

“My sister’s a doctor. Pediatric surgeon. She’s part of a practice not too far from here. She can help.” She had, in fact, helped Jason with cases a few times: hurt kids and terrified abuse victims too scared to go to a hospital.

“Go,” Steve said immediately, overlapping Natalie’s more cautious, “She’ll keep it quiet?”

Jason nodded anyway, already changing lanes and reaching for his phone. “Discretion is a Slaski family trait. Siri, call Jenny O’Conner.” He pressed the button to put the call on speaker and dropped his phone in the cup holder. 

“Hey, kiddo,” Jenny answered cheerfully. “What’s up?”

“I need your help. You guys busy today?”

“Not so much. What’s the situation?”

“One adult. I think. Steve?”

“I’m good. It’s just her. Deep stab wound to the lower abdomen, right side.”

“I’ll get a room ready.”

“Just you, Jen,” Jason insisted as he took a left turn. “We’ll be coming around the back in ten minutes. Keep it clear as best you can.” He accelerated out of the turn, trying to balance smoothness and haste. Captain America had accelerated healing; Black Widow did not.

“It’s that private?” Jenny asked, her discreet way of checking on the patient’s mental state.

“Not for the usual reasons, but yes. Polka dot, Jen.”

The response to her childhood Stranger Danger password was immediate. “It’ll be clear. See you in ten.”

“Thanks. See you soon.”

He flicked his eyes away from the road to disconnect the call, and found Captain America back in his seat and looking at him with a small, approving smile. “You certainly know how to get things done.”

Jason offered his own little smile in return, even as he looked straight ahead again. “A trait Kelly admires, as I understand it.”

“So I hear,” Steve agreed as Natalie huffed in amusement from the back. “You ever want to switch jobs, SHIELD could probably find something for you.”

Jason laughed, knowing it wasn’t a serious offer, and one he would never take even if it were. “No, thank you. I prefer my emergencies on a personal scale, not a global one.” Besides, he didn’t want to go the way of Phil. He had Kelly, and he intended to keep her in his life, thank you. “Kelly will be sorry she missed you. She’s in Boston for a few weeks.”

“We know. Tony and Pepper went last night.”

“They did?” Jason was surprised, though he supposed he shouldn’t have been. It wouldn’t do for the orchestra’s patron not to go when they happened to be on the east coast. They’d always been a well-respected group, but Tony Stark’s money had funded many improvements, including a top tier conductor, and they were quickly rising in rank.

“Kelly didn’t tell you?” Natalie asked. “I know Clint and Coulson were hoping to get back in time to go too.”

“I haven’t had the chance to talk to her for a few days. She’s supposed to call tonight.”

“Don’t mention us by name,” Steve cautioned. “Or anything Avengers related. Just in case.”

“Just in case people are scanning the airwaves looking for you?” Jason teased as he sped up to go through a yellow light.

“Yes.” Natalie’s voice wasn’t teasing at all.

“Oh.”

“It really will be fine,” Steve soothed. “But we still have to be careful.”

Jason nodded, and decided to stop talking for a while. He sped up even more, mindful of the other cars and on the lookout for cops. 

Luckily they arrived at Jenny’s office without incident, and Jason pulled around to the back at a sedate, non-attention-grabbing pace. He texted Jenny while Steve helped Natalie out of the car, and the unmarked door immediately flew open in response.

Jen was good, he had to give her that. Her step barely hitched when she saw the patient and the patient’s companion. “Right,” she said, ushering them in with a wave. “Through there, please, Captain, and to the left.”

Jason followed them in, relieved to see the back corridors devoid of other people. They entered a small patient care room, and, through the doorway, Jason saw Steve lift Natalie to carefully place her on the table as Jenny pulled her fully-stocked rolling tray into position.

“No anesthesia,” Natalie commanded.

“Local anesthesia,” Steve counter-ordered, “if needed. Nothing stronger.”

“Why don’t you let me take a look first,” Jenny said reasonably, “and then we’ll decide. Hoodie off. Shirt too.”

Jason reached in and grabbed the doorknob, closed the door gently between them and the outside world, and planted himself as guard. He did see people every now and then. A few patients and parents, and Jenny’s coworkers, who either ignored him or nodded their hellos. No one asked what he was doing there, and no one so much as looked at him askance.

Eventually Jenny came out of the room, closed the door, and faced him, arms crossed and eyebrows up.

“How is she?”

“She’ll be fine. Out of commission for a while, which she’s not happy about. It was deep, but it missed hitting anything vital.”

“Anesthetic?” he asked out of sheer curiosity.

“Local. With consent. Wheedled out of her by _Captain America_ —”

Jason shushed her, glancing around for any stray listeners.

“No, seriously, Jason. How and why are you mixed up with them?”

“I’m not.” She scoffed and he took her arm and pulled her further towards the back. “Honestly, Jen. They’re friends of a friend and they just need a place to stay while they wait for someone to come get them.”

“Would this friend be someone who used to live in New York? To whom you are now engaged?”

Jason said nothing, but offered an exaggerated, sheepish expression.

“ _How?_ ”

“She . . . used to date someone who knows them. She forged a friendship with, um, _her_ ,” he said, pointing to the closed door, “and the other one who doesn’t have a name. The non-green anonymous one, I mean. I can’t tell you more than that. I signed papers. Legit papers that pretty much throw me in jail the second I say too much. And not a normal jail. A special jail. A jail where no one will ever find me.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I hope you—” The door opened and Jen stopped talking.

Jason shot her a grateful smile. “Everything okay?” he asked Steve, who was cautiously checking the corridor.

“Yeah. Just making sure we’re in the clear to leave.”

“Let me get you the antibiotics,” Jen said, “and tell everyone to stay away for a few minutes. Be right back.”

Steve stopped being stealthy and leaned against the doorframe. “It would seem getting things done is also a Slaski family trait.”

“One of our better ones,” Jason agreed with a nod. “You should see our civil engineering brother and city planning brother-in-law.”

Steve laughed. “Is everyone in your family in the business of bettering society?”

“Not my younger sister. She was content to marry well and raise a hoard of Slaski children.” He shrugged. “It works for her. She gives a lot to charity though, and someone has to make sure the awesomeness lives for generations to come.”

“Excuse me,” Jenny said, coming back with pill bottle in hand. “Are you implying that Tierney and Frankie aren’t awesome?”

“I said no such thing. But two are not enough to ensure many descendants. Just look at me and Josh. If we were the only two Slaski children, the genes would die out. Julia’s four definitely up the odds.”

“That’s disgusting,” Natalie added, nudging Steve out of the way.

“Four kids?” Jason asked, because he was pretty sure she wasn’t seriously disagreeing with something, but he wasn’t sure what the joke was.

“Jason, Jenny, Josh, and Julia. What is wrong with your parents?”

Jenny laughed. “We have asked that question many times. Here.” She handed Steve the pills. “That should be more than enough to get her home where, I assume, you have access to medical care?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Oh dear. Captain America just ma’am-ed me. I don’t know whether to swoon or feel very, very old.”

“Go with the swoon,” Natalie said, moving past them all, slowly, towards the backdoor. “He never knows what to do with it. It’s fun.”

“Guess that’s our cue,” Jason said as Jenny laughed. Steve nodded his thanks and chased Natalie down to help her, and Jason moved in to give his sister a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks. I’ll call you later. Don’t tell anyone.”

“I won’t. And you’re welcome.”

The trip to the apartment was uneventful, but Jason would still breathe a little easier once they were behind locked doors. Logically he knew that a deadbolt would do little to keep out criminals of a certain stature (the kind that would have Avengers after them and the equipment needed to sweep cell phone conversations, for instance), but still.

“Hang on,” Steve commanded as they approached the apartment door. Natalie pulled herself straighter and extracted a gun from somewhere Jason didn’t want to think about.

He didn’t hear it until they were right outside the door: the TV was on. He knew it wasn’t something he had done — he hadn’t even switched it on that morning. Moreover, it was . . . not the TV. Not a show, anyway. Listening carefully, Jason could hear the sound effects of Mario Kart.

Just as Captain America looked ready to break down the door, there was a loud, “Yeah, suck it, Yoshi!” and both Natalie and Steve immediately relaxed.

“Go ahead,” Steve said, nodding to the keys in Jason’s hand. Jason did as he was told and opened the door. 

“It’s about time you guys got here,” Tony Stark said from Jason’s couch, though he didn’t look away from the screen. “I’ve been here forever.”

“ _Why_ are you here?” Jason asked, unable to help himself and appalled at his manners all at the same time. Still, it was disconcerting to find a stranger in your apartment, even a famous billionaire superhero.

“These two go off the grid near Portland, Oregon, where else they gonna go? It’s not rocket science. Which, by the way, I can also totally do.” Finally pausing the game, Stark looked over as Steve and Natalie gently steered Jason out of the way and locked the door behind them. “Geez, Romanoff. You gonna live?”

Jason looked over in surprise as Natalie growled, “Shut up, Stark.” She’d shed the hoodie and was carefully reaching with one hand to hang it on a peg, bloody side away from the wall. “You bring anything useful, like a quinjet?”

“Well, almost. I came first, like a scouting party. Or a messenger. Your chariot will be here soon.”

“Good,” Steve said, then he turned to Jason. “Sorry about him.”

“Hey, don’t apologize for my actions. That’s rude.”

“I’m not. I’m apologizing for your very being.”

“Funny, Captain Antagonizing.”

“Oh, hey, wait,” Jason said, ignoring the friendly bickering and watching Natalie sit on the couch, carefully angled. “Let me get a towel so you don’t have to worry about it.”

“Thanks.”

Jason nodded and went through the bedroom to get to the bathroom and the linen closet. Except he was stopped by the sight of a pair of boots coming into view at the top of the window. Heart hammering and knowing if he was wrong he was probably dead anyway, he called, “Clint, that had better be you out there.”

The boots thudded down onto the fire escape, Clint grinning at him from his crouched position. “It’s me,” he confirmed once he’d deftly unlocked and opened the window. “I hear you have some unexpected visitors.”

“Yeah. I thought you were off with Phil and his people.”

“I was,” he confirmed, waving at Jason to start walking. “Still am. We finished this morning, heard Cap and, uh, Widow lost communication, and headed this way. Hey, guys,” he said as they reached the living room.

“Barton,” Stark said, then glanced sideways at Natalie. “I can call him that, right? Not giving away any state secrets? I mean,” he added, moving his gaze to Jason, “you already knew that, right?”

“Yeah, I knew that. Sorry,” he said to Natalie. “I promise to try to forget your real last name.”

She smiled and stood with far more grace than Jason would ever manage on his best day. “Don’t worry about it. And you may call me Natasha.”

Jason did his best to rein in his surprise and gratitude, and nodded to show he understood the honor. Then he smiled slightly. “Thank you, Natasha.”

She nodded back and moved to the door, a clear signal to the others. Steve followed her, stopping to thank Jason with a handshake. Stark heaved himself up off the couch. “You know,” he said idly, scratching at one cheek, “you could totally afford more than this place. I know you don’t make much, Slaski, but I also know what your fiancée makes, it being my money and all.”

“Tony!” Steve stormed the few steps back and grabbed Stark’s arm, pulling him away.

“What? I’m just saying. The market’s good right now, they should totally check some houses out. Or condos,” he called over his shoulder to Jason, “if that’s more your—” A strangled noise cut him off as Steve physically forced him out the door. 

“Sorry,” Clint offered. “Tony doesn’t really filter.”

“Does he really know how much we make?”

“Probably. Well. In all fairness, that is, _I_ know. What you make. Background check,” he added when Jason gave him a look. “So it was right there for him to look up. Plus, genius with no boundaries.”

“Right.” Jason shook his head, but he found himself smiling. He didn’t have the most lucrative of careers, financially speaking, but that wasn’t why he did it. “Oh well. No harm done. Anyway, I imagine most people’s incomes look like pittance to him.”

“No sense of the average Joe, that’s for sure.” Clint smiled. “Thanks for helping today.”

“Of course. You and Phil should visit soon.”

“Sure. We’ll try, anyway. You know how it goes.”

“Yeah.”

“But we’ll see you at the wedding, for sure. Wouldn’t miss that.”

Jason nodded and walked Clint to the door. “You still planning to see Kelly in Boston? I know she’d love that.”

“Yep. We’re gonna see if we can get tickets tomorrow, get it in before something else happens on the other side of the world.”

“Good. Give her a kiss for me.”

“Better me than Phil, right?” Clint teased with a laugh. Then he sketched a wave and jogged to join the others.

Jason closed the door behind him, locked it, and released a breath into the sudden silence. Then he took his phone out of his pocket and sent a text.

_I know you’re probably busy right now, but I saw some old friends of yours today. Knock ‘em dead tonight and call me when you can. Love you._

_Can’t talk,_ he got less than a minute later. _But who’d you see?_

_Your NYC sparring buddies. Plus their old army buddy and their obnoxious landlord._ When she hadn’t responded by the time he’d settled on the couch, he added, _Everything’s fine. Please don’t worry. They’re on their way home._

_You’re okay?_

_I’m fine. N visited Jen, but that was from something that happened before they came to me, and she’s going to be okay. Really, sweetheart. The worst action I saw was you know who landing on the fire escape as I walked into the bedroom. Heart attack._

_Lol. Sounds like a story then. I’ll call you later tonight._

_Okay. Love you. Break a leg tonight._

_Will do. Love you too._

Jason tossed his phone to the side and picked up the controller Tony had abandoned. He unpaused the game and immediately fell off Rainbow Road. 

“Goddammit, Stark.”

 

 

\--end--

**Author's Note:**

> While these stories weren't originally meant to ever repeat one person's POV, I discovered that Jason wasn't quite finished with me yet. The next planned fic will be from a brand new POV, though still in the world of Kelly Cooper and Jason Slaski, feat. the Avenger Friends!


End file.
